This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Prescription drug prices in the United States is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world. "The prices Americans pay for prescription drugs, which are far higher than those paid by citizens of any other developed country, help explain why the pharmaceutical industry is — and has been for years — the most profitable of all businesses in the U.S. In the annual Fortune 500 survey, the pharmaceutical industry topped the list of the most profitable industries, with a return of 17% on revenue." [1]
Prices of brand name drugs in the United States are significantly higher than in Canada, India, the UK and other countries, nearly all of which have price controls. Prices for generic drugs tend to be higher in Canada. The price differential for brand-name drugs between the U.S. and Canada has led Americans to purchase more than US$1 billion in drugs per year from Canadian pharmacies.[2]
As an example of the extremely high U.S. drug prices, consider the cholesterol drug Lipitor, one of the best selling drugs in the world. At CVS.com, a leading U.S. pharmacy, Lipitor (40mg/90 tablets) costs $361.99. At Drugstore.com, another U.S. pharmacy, the same drug costs $335.97. While in Canada at CanadianOnlineRx.com pharmacy, the cost is $215.46, and in India at licensed pharmacy InternationalDrugMart.com, the identical generic drug costs $120.94 (Source: All costs in US$,19 May 2008, from the respective pharmacy websites).
To save money, "U.S. Customs estimates 10 million U.S. citizens bring in medications at land borders each year. An additional 2 million packages of pharmaceuticals arrive annually by international mail from Thailand, India, South Africa and other points," reports the Washington Post[3] A few years ago, uninsured Americans would often purchase their cheaper medications from Canadian pharmacies. However, today, consumers shop at lower-cost online pharmacies in India, the UK, and other countries where they can save even more money -- up to 60 to 80 percent or more savings off US prices.
Pharmaceutical companies argue that the prices they set are necessary in order to continue to fund research. Only 11% of drug candidates that enter clinical trials are successful and receive approval for sale.[4] The large cost of conducting clinicals trials for unsuccessful candidates must be recovered from the sales of successful drugs, otherwise the discovery and development of new pharmaceutical drugs would be unsustainable.citation needed
The AARP has published a series of studies suggesting that prescription drug prices are rising significantly faster than general inflation.[5] Others have criticized the methodology used as overstating drug price inflation. [6]
Prescription drug prices, in particular as part of Medicare, have become a political issue in the United States. Critics argue that there is no reason for American consumers to subsidize the low drug prices in other first-world nations.who?
It is claimed by the drug companies and Food and Drug Administration regulators that there is danger to consumers in using drugs from Canada.citation needed There is skepticism, based on how much actual risk is involved.citation needed
Both houses of Congress have passed legislation to permit imports; but the Bush Administration and the FDA are opposed. The anticipated Medicare reforms, expected to pass, include prescription drug coverage under Medicare, and there is some interest in Congress in permitting imports under FDA regulation.[7]
The large pharmaceutical companies maintain a website at helpingpatients.org in order to provide drugs at a reduced rate to needy consumers.
The pharmaceutical industry has thousands of lobbyists in Washington, DC that lobby Congress and protect their interests. The pharmaceutical industry spent $855 million, more than any other industry, on lobbying activities from 1998 to 2006, according to the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity. [8]
References
- ^ [1] "Why We Pay So Much," TIME magazine, Feb. 2, 2004
- ^ Morgan, S.; Morgan, Steven and Hurley, Jeremiah (2004-03-16). "Internet pharmacy: prices on the up-and-up". CMAJ 170 (6): 945–946. doi:. PMID 15023915. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ [2] "Millions of Americans Look Outside U.S. For Drugs," Washington Post, Oct. 23, 2003
- ^ Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2004 (3), 711-716.
- ^ David Gross, Leigh Gross Purvis and Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, "Trends in Manufacturer Prices of Prescription Drugs Used by Older Americans", AARP, March 2007
- ^ Joseph Antos and Thomas F. Wildsmith, "Inflated Claims about Drug Prices", American Enterprise Institute, July 8, 2005
- ^ New York Times article
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-senators-drug-bill_N.htm "Senators Who Weakened Drug Bill Got Millions From Industry," USA Today, May, 10, 2007]
See also
- Medicare Part D
- Online pharmacy
- Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
- National pharmaceuticals policy
- Pharmaceutical company
- Chilean pharmaceutical policy
- Sri Lanka National Pharmaceuticals Policy
External links
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 30 July 2008, at 01:02.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Prescription drug prices in the United States".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.